Burgma and I completed the Motorcycle Safety class for experienced riders this weekend. Things are falling into place.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Autocom Update
Last weekend we motored to Chattanooga and Pleasant Hill, Tennessee. After some adjustments we used the bike to bike communication. It worked well, was handy, and was surprisingly enjoyable. This weekend we ran errands two up and tried the voice activated rider/passenger system. Later I experimented setting the Autocom bike to bike on voice activated. The radios work well in voice activation though I imagine the batteries won't last as long in that mode. If traffic is heavy, using voice actvation should be safer and more convenient than push to talk.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Can you hear me now?
So BmrPop suddenly got a bee in his bonnet and started making progress towards the Four Corners trip. He selected, paid for and arranged the installation of the communication system for the BMW and the Burgman. At this point, Czookie has opted out of the communication loop, prefering the Quaker silence!
After some investigation, we settled on the AutoComm system, and decided that the ActivePlus model would meet our simple needs. We needed bike to bike communication and did not plan on hooking up many other devices to it. Now that we have it, BmrPop is thinking he would like to hook up his MP3 player, and is even thinking about satellite radio, but we'll see. The ActivePlus is a PTT - Push To Talk - system that requires a wire from the unit to the helmet, and also a wire from the unit to the Walkie-Talkie. I'm thinking those wires are going to be a bit of trouble but we'll see about that as well.
We dropped off our bikes with helmets at the shop on Friday and then picked them up Wednesday evening. We left the shop with the simple instruction of it's PTT - that's all you need to know. Well, apparently there is more to it than that! We returned to the shop after driving around for 15 minutes yelling into our helmets, "Can you hear me now?" "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?" We returned to the shop to see what was the story. BmrPop's diagnosis was righton. The walkie-talkies weren't installed. And worse yet, the walkie-talkies weren't even charged. AND the connector cable on the Burgman couldn't be found. Yeah - well....Burgma had a fleeting thought that maybe this was all by design... but BmrPop seemed genuinely disappointed so she quickly dismissed the idea. Some digging around in the Burgman (under the shell) found the missing connector, and we received a few more instructions. Also noticed a screw was missing from around the cover on the Burgman, and in addition the BMW's ABS light would not go off. That had us real worried. Another 15 minutes later we left the shop with all the goods.
The bad news is that we still haven't tested the system! When we got home and went to plug in the walkie-talkies to charge them, there was no charger cord. Needless to say we are disappointed in the service we received from this shop which was highly recommended to us and exuded much confidence when we were investigating the systems. It is not that they all aren't nice, but it was evident in the 4 days we left them with our bikes, that no one had tested the system.
BmrPop took his BMW into the Beamer shop early the next morning and left with his fingers crossed. The good news is that the BMW only had to have its relay reset!! YAY!!
I am sure our tales about the communication system are only beginning!! We may all be Quaker by the end of July!
After some investigation, we settled on the AutoComm system, and decided that the ActivePlus model would meet our simple needs. We needed bike to bike communication and did not plan on hooking up many other devices to it. Now that we have it, BmrPop is thinking he would like to hook up his MP3 player, and is even thinking about satellite radio, but we'll see. The ActivePlus is a PTT - Push To Talk - system that requires a wire from the unit to the helmet, and also a wire from the unit to the Walkie-Talkie. I'm thinking those wires are going to be a bit of trouble but we'll see about that as well.
We dropped off our bikes with helmets at the shop on Friday and then picked them up Wednesday evening. We left the shop with the simple instruction of it's PTT - that's all you need to know. Well, apparently there is more to it than that! We returned to the shop after driving around for 15 minutes yelling into our helmets, "Can you hear me now?" "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?" We returned to the shop to see what was the story. BmrPop's diagnosis was righton. The walkie-talkies weren't installed. And worse yet, the walkie-talkies weren't even charged. AND the connector cable on the Burgman couldn't be found. Yeah - well....Burgma had a fleeting thought that maybe this was all by design... but BmrPop seemed genuinely disappointed so she quickly dismissed the idea. Some digging around in the Burgman (under the shell) found the missing connector, and we received a few more instructions. Also noticed a screw was missing from around the cover on the Burgman, and in addition the BMW's ABS light would not go off. That had us real worried. Another 15 minutes later we left the shop with all the goods.
The bad news is that we still haven't tested the system! When we got home and went to plug in the walkie-talkies to charge them, there was no charger cord. Needless to say we are disappointed in the service we received from this shop which was highly recommended to us and exuded much confidence when we were investigating the systems. It is not that they all aren't nice, but it was evident in the 4 days we left them with our bikes, that no one had tested the system.
BmrPop took his BMW into the Beamer shop early the next morning and left with his fingers crossed. The good news is that the BMW only had to have its relay reset!! YAY!!
I am sure our tales about the communication system are only beginning!! We may all be Quaker by the end of July!
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